The Jefferson Parish school district will spend $7.3 million to upgrade its school facilities. At a meeting earlier this week, schools Superintendent James Meza said that the move to allocate the money was fueled by the finding of extra funds in the budget, coupled with the need to make repairs on the district's aging high school buildings.

"Although the board has put more money into maintenance this year, the damage and deterioration is increasing at a greater rate than the money we're able to provide," Meza said.

Of the total, $3.9 million comes through extra money that the administration found in the budget, after staff vacancies were not replaced. Another $3.4 million will go into the balance of next year's budget.

Since last year, the board has been improving the security of its schools by building fences, securing entrances and installing cameras - a plan that will cost about $7.5 million, financed through bonds. Board members, however, said that this new maintenance plan would deal with more immediate concerns, such as roof and building façade repairs.

"If you walk through Bonnabel High School, the walkways are deteriorating, their appearance is extremely ugly," Meza added.

School Board President Michael Delesdernier agreed that this was a necessary step for the administration to take.

"As our schools get better, they should also look better," he said.

The maintenance efforts will focus on the district's 13 high schools, which are on average around 47 years old. Meza mentioned that with the high volume of students the schools serve they are overdue for a more thorough round of maintenance. In the past, there has been no formal budget allocation for fixing maintenance issues in the district - problems have been fixed as they've occurred.

The funds for maintenance will be allocated to each school as follows: